Posted by Andy Neumann on Mon, Apr 22, 2013
If only Alice had a pair of these wicked specs, she may have ignored the brazen pocket watch holding bunny and steered clear of the rabbit hole. Then again, in my initial foray, I must admit that I was not impressed with the physical appearance of Google Glass (No, I am not a slave to fashion but I do not want to walk this earth as a live action model for a ‘B’ rated Tron movie!) However, upon further investigation, the sheer capability of Google Glass has me strongly considering a life outfitted in iridescent electrode clad skin suits. I mean… c’mon, look at these bad boys:
…errrrr….. wait a minute, that’s not it – ahhhh, here we go:
Uh-huh, I knew it. You think they are pretty sweet also! If you have not been formally introduced already, ladies and gents, let me present to you Google’s latest and greatest (we can dispense with the drum roll) Google Glass!
At first glance (without your Google Glasses on, of course) Google Glass is a wearable computer that utilizes a head mounted display to provide smartphone features and functions in a sleek and futuristic hands free format. Further investigation of this device reveals that they do more than make you look trendy. Boasting such features as the ability to take a single photo or shoot a video, send a text message to your buddy, get directions to your favorite hideaway or confirm flight information all by using simple voice commands. Truly remarkable!
Google Glass was introduced to the public in August of 2011 with plans to have a version available to our greedy hands by the end of 2013. Initial testing of the glasses was coordinated through the Glass Explorer Program (the program has since closed but you are able to place yourself on an informational waiting list) and live field testing is being completed by the ‘bold, creative individuals’ who answered the call on Twitter or Google+ to explain in 50 words or less on how their lives would be enriched by using Google Glass. I am sorry that I missed this bus!
Though the concept of a wearable ‘Heads Up’ display type of technology is not new, packaging this technology into a universally acceptable device that is anticipated to weigh less than an average pair of sunglasses is. Those of you fortunate enough to have answered the call, while still holding on to your 32oz double caf whipped caramel skim latte and noshing on your organically correct marathon muffin, can begin to enjoy surfing the web, taking photos, texting all by simply saying ‘ok glass. . . ‘ I am truly at a loss for words at how cool this technology is going to be and I am sure, once Calvin Klein, Ray-Ban and Oakley throw their hats into the ring for lens development and options, we will truly see and appreciate Google Glass’ full potential. If you have not checked this technology out, do yourself a favor, stop what you are doing, do not pass go and do not collect $100. Get Google Glass on your mind – I already know the first question I am going to ask – ‘ok glass, what IS really at the bottom of the rabbit hole. . . ‘
If you have any questions or would like to discuss how Google Glass may affect the way you work, contact Trigon today!
Posted by Jonathan Pentecost on Mon, Jul 30, 2012
Google has announced that they are going to start providing Internet connections to customers in Kansas City, MO that is 100 times faster than any current broadband connection available, according to the http://news.yahoo.com/google-unveils-broadband-internet-163839249--sector.html article. The offering will also be available to customers in Kansas City, KS, as well.
The article describes the amount of TV shows that can be recorded at the same time, save so many hours of HD programming, as well as the ability to use voice activation for controlling the TV from a tablet or smart phone. The price for the service without the traditional TV channels is $70 a month but a complete package will cost $120 a month. The $120 per month service includes all major broadcast TV networks, 1 GB per second Internet speed and 1 TB of space in the cloud.
So besides the great TV service that will provide HD quality viewing with the ability to search not only on-demand programming, but also live programming as well, you will have speeds for downloading content that are unprecedented. You no longer will have to wait for those pages to load or share bandwidth between your TV downloads and Internet downloads. In the past, the Internet connection was the bottleneck but with speeds of 1 GB per second, your wireless G connection running at 54 Mbps is now the slow link in the home. To take complete advantage of the Internet, you may need to upgrade not only your home wireless router, but depending on the age of your computers, the network card in them. Granted, if your computer is only a couple years old it most likely already has a GB NIC built-in or a laptop with wireless N, but many people that I know still only have a wireless G router.
What do you think about this? Are you now itching to see when Google will be providing their Fiber broadband Internet service in your area? If you are one of the lucky ones that live in Kansas City, will you be ordering the service or will you wait until the inevitable “bugs” are worked out of the system before adopting? Are you interested in seeing if your company would be able to take advantage of this once it does come to your area? Talk to us about our Philadelphia Networking & Infrastructure IT Solutions and we can make sure that your network is ready. You can also take advantage of the many IT Solutions for Philadelphia that we offer, as well.
Posted by David Quiram on Thu, Jun 21, 2012
..So IPv6 day was two weeks ago, where were you when the Internet collapsed?
Ah, you didn't notice did you? Several major sites moved to using IPv6 and the Internet is fine. So what happened then? I was able to gather the following stats from the aftermath of IPv6 day:
Comcast reports that 1/3 of its networks are now on IPv6. They saw a 3.75% increase in IPv6 when compared to last year’s numbers at IPv6 day. They also were to mention that they had no major issues to report from the move to IPv6.
Facebook reported that it has 27 million users on IPv6. This is reported to be 3-5 times the numbers they had last year on IPv6 day.
Sandvine (a bandwidth-management vendor) reported that 0.4 % of all internet traffic that day was using IPV6, though the majority of the traffic came from just two websites: Netflix and Youtube. Both of these companies enabled IPv6 in late May which may have helped bolster their numbers.
So all in all there was just a bit more usage of IPv6 this year. Are companies moving in the direction of IPv6? Yes, every new networking device will move them closer whether they want to or not. Larger companies are making the switch which will help motivate the medium sized companies. The important fact is that there was not a reported outage or major failure. This will help generate confidence in the technology for those paying attention.
Is there to be a day of recognizing for IPv4? Not for some time, the two will be working side by side until the last IPv4 device is phased out, or more likely hidden behind an IPv6 enabled edge device.
Where are we going next? Companies like Google are taking an active role in the IPv6 movement with their users. Applications such as Google Calendar are notifying users if they are not IPv6 ready. Google reports that the IPv6 traffic has been growing rapidly. There has been a 150% increase in the IPv6 traffic in the past year. It is said that they expect that 50% of their users to be using IPv6 in six years. The traffic of course will be more noticeable on the major sites such as the ones listed above. We will see more devices coming with IPv6 enabled by default. We will see more appliances coming out with IPv6 capability which will drive the home user to use it. All this will happen without most people noticing, which means that it is working and stable. Things look good for the future of IPv6 -- see you next year!
Posted by David Quiram on Fri, Jun 08, 2012
On June 6th there will be another push out of IPV6 implementation.
Some of you might have remembered a year ago we had an IPV6 day as well. That was more of a test run. It was implemented and some companies, but some of them pulled back. But this time it will be different...really.
This is being organized by the Internet Society, using the success from the World IPv6 Day last year.
From the IPv6 website:
"World IPv6 Launch represents a major milestone in the global deployment of IPv6. As the successor to the current Internet Protocol, IPv4, IPv6 is critical to the Internet's continued growth as a platform for
innovation and economic development."
Why should you care….well, for a couple of reasons:
Reason 1 - we ran out of addresses in IPv4 back in Feb. 2011. IPv6 has trillions of addresses. With the push to make every major appliance in the home, car, and on your person networked, business need the larger address space for the technologies being developed.
Reason 2 - It is going to happen whether you like it or not. You might as well understand it before your kids do and you have to depend on them to fix your home router. Like you had to set the time on the VCR for your parents years ago.
Some of the participants this year include:
Cisco
D-link
Google
Time Warner Cable
Comcast
Facebook
Microsoft Bing
Yahoo
AT&T
What will this entail? Is it the possible end of the internet? Will we go to log in and just get a blank screen at our favorite websites?
Don't panic. Odds are you will not notice anything as a common user. Some network admins might have a busy day though.
So what is going to happen is on June 6th all the participating companies will "turn on" their IPv6 functionally and leave it on. The default addressing scheme will be IPv6 where it was Ipv4 before. If there are devices that only have Iv4 capability (read OLD devices) on your networks that interact with devices that now are set to IPv6 by default don't panic. They will still work. IPv4 isn't being turned off, just being outclassed. It will still be there for now. There may be a lag in the traffic coming across IPv4 devices. This would be a good time for a technology review and maybe some upgrades. All new devices and operating systems can use IPv6.
The websites for Google, Bing, Facebook, and Yahoo will be reachable using IPv6 from June 6th forward.
If you host a web site and are concerned that there might be a connection issue, there are links available from the IPv6 sites which will check to see if your web site is accessible over IPv6.
There maybe some issues with computers or servers that have had the IPv6 functionality disabled for one reason or another. This would be a good time to review these devices and make sure that unless there is a reason for IPv6 to be turned off, turn it on. One less step in the troubleshooting of network connection issues.
For those of you who want to know more about IPv6 without the heavy techno jargon, there is a great site called Everyday User: A Short Guide to IPv6. It goes over the basics of IPv6 and even answers what happened to IPv5!
Posted by Jonathan Pentecost on Mon, Jun 04, 2012
..if you have one, that is.
The buzz all around the Internet these days is about the release of Samsung’s “Galaxy S III” smartphone. According to the http://news.yahoo.com/samsung-galaxy-iii-invades-u-beginning-month-113538279.html website, it is the first time that Samsung will be using the same name for the device regardless of the carrier it is on (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless). Previously, each carrier had a different name of the device in order to blend in with the other smartphones that the particular wireless carrier used for phones. The Galaxy S III is set to be available this month by all above named carriers, as well as U.S. Cellular, so you should be able to get one soon if you are so lucky!!
I personally have an HTC Thunderbolt and have loved it ever since I made the switch from the Windows Mobile platform. I used to be an MS guy all the way, but seeing the HTC Android that a friend of mine had, it looked very appealing. It had many more features and options that I just didn’t have. There was no “store” that I could browse to from the phone to download new apps, there was no built-in GPS (I have MS Streets and Trips and the GPS unit would need a converter to connect to the phone), and the screen was much smaller. The Thunderbolt has the Google Play store (formerly Google Market) for easily (and for the most part, free) downloading new apps, has built-in GPS that integrates with both Google maps for planning trips and Navigation for on-the-go turn-by-turn directions, as well as having a nice screen. Granted, I do miss my old QWERTY keyboard on my old phone that I could slide out and use easily, but I have adapted to the on-screen keyboard on the Android phone.
So what smartphone do you have and what stories do you have about trading up or trading in? Would you like to know more about offerings that Trigon Technology has about our Mobile IT Solutions for Philadelphia? Contact us and we can work with your SMB to develop a plan that best suits your needs.
Posted by David Quiram on Tue, Mar 20, 2012
Google's new privacy policy has been out for a while and went into effect March 1, 2012.
I know this is old news, but you really should be aware of these changes. Do you care? Should you care?
I hope you answered yes to both. Odds are if you did, well you have read the new policy already. If you have not, here are some reasons to do so.
If you use Google for anything, read them. Google trimmed down over 60 policies to just one to rule them all. They took a lot of time to do this and it is probably for a good reason. Honestly, the reason they probably did it was to better their business more than to better your experience. I know that sounds cynical, but they know the better experience you have with Google products, the more you will use them. The more you use them, the more money they make, which is why Google is in business...to make money.
One of the blurbs from Google that prompted me to read the policy was the following:
"Tailored for you...if you're signed into Google, we can do things like suggest search queries - or tailor your search results - based on the interests you've expressed in Google+, Gmail, and YouTube. We'll better understand which version of Pink or Jaguar you're searching for and get you those results faster" - from the policy change email sent out to Google users.
Ok, did you get that. We can tailor your search based upon the information we have on you. Great, faster searches, that will make internet use better, which it does. But what if your signed into iGoogle at work and you do a search on a subject which then pulls not safe for work results based up some information in your Google meta data? Not good. Suddenly you are in violation of some HR clauses. Granted that is a farfetched scenario, but it is possible if you are not aware of how all the data that is accessible to Google interacts.
Every business owner who uses Google products should read the policies. This is the sort of thing that IT departments use and maintain for business. Consider Google your IT department and they just sent you an important memo. You need to be aware of how your data rests with Google. If you are not, your neglecting a resource and risks.
Yes it does sound like I am anti-Google. Which I am not, I am fully invested with Google and Google is my friend. The migration from many to one policy I think is a great move. It makes it easier to understand how the different products interact and I don't have to read a different policy for each product. What I want is everyone who uses Google to be informed of what they are using.
Posted by Jonathan Pentecost on Wed, Jan 18, 2012
So now that I have an Android and the software applications are easier to get than my previous Windows Mobile 6.2 device, I am pleased to find out that the Android Market now has over 400,000 apps available for download. According to the http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/android-market-achieves-new-milestone-with-400000-active-apps/ website, there are now over 400,000 of the apps that I can download. Not that I would be able to load up my device with all of these, but I certainly have made use of a few apps already.
The website also talks about the number of apps available for the iPhone, indicating that it has taken the Android longer to reach this milestone (22 months for the iPhone and 31 months for the Android), but by contrast it has taken less time to make the jump from 200,000 to 300,000 and from 300,000 to 400,000 for the Android. This means that in the over-all scheme, the ramp-up to the 400,000 level grew faster in the second half of release than it took the iPhone App Store to get to the same amount.
One other item the website reviews is the revenue brought in by the apps in the respective sites. More than half of the apps on the Android Market are free (68% according to the article), most of which are part of the so-called “freemium” model. This is the idea that the basic app is provided free (most with advertisements) and an upgrade to an advertisement-free and/or advanced feature app can be purchased. Alternatively on the Apple App Store, more apps need to be purchased in order to download.
As I am a big proponent of the “freemium” model, I am really glad I did go with the Android versus the iPhone when making my SmartPhone purchase. What about you – what device do you have? Do you like it or are you in the “market” for a new one? Contact us about our Trigon Mobility Solutions to see how we can help your business grow with such a device.
Posted by Anthony Checchia on Tue, Jan 17, 2012
Samsung last month released its brand new phone the Galaxy Nexus, and with it Google’s latest version of Android which is 4.0. So what can we expect from Android 4.0 codenamed Ice Cream Sandwi
ch and the Galaxy Nexus? Well actually quite a lot it would seem. This version brings with it the availability of home screen folders. With this handy tool you can organize your apps in whatever way you choose or if you prefer the all apps screen it will still be available. If you like texting then you’ll be happy to hear that there are improvements made to the built in spell checker. Words that are spelled incorrectly will now be underlined and tapping that word will show word suggestions. In my opinion one of the most interesting of the latest features iAndroid Beam which will allow two people to transfer data and apps just by touching two Android 4.0 phones together.
With the release of Android 4.0 in addition to adding some great features and really refining the user interface Google is also attempting to unify Android under one look and feel. Their goal is to eventually do away with the skins manufacturers put on their phones such as HTC sense and Motoblur so that other than hardware all Android phones will be the same. Is this a good move on Google’s part? I don’t really know HTC sense tends to be a selling point for HTC’s Android based phones. I guess only time will tell on this one. If you’d like more information on Android 4.0 check out www.android.com and if you’re interested in mobile options for your business give us a call and let us assist you.
Posted by Solutions Center on Mon, Nov 07, 2011
Google is at it again, this time changing the look of their very popular Gmail email service.
They announced this change over on their official blog. Over the next couple days there will be a link on the bottom right of the page when you are logged in to Gmail allowing you to switch to the new look. I know so many people, including myself, are resistant to change, when it comes to something we have been using for so many years. I am here to say that after initial resistance, I have come to enjoy the new look and it is much more customizable.
Be sure to check out Google's blog as it shows off some of the new features from the Google team, and I am sure they are proud of their work. Some of these new features, for example allowing the user to configure the spacing in the view, took the new look from insulting to the eyes to something I really enjoy. They have updated the theme; including some new HD themes that add a snazzy new look to the whole layout. I really do enjoy the new, more customizable appearance, and it is navigable via the keyboard. It claims to have an improved conversation view included also although I haven’t had enough time with it to comment on this feature, and not being a fan of conversations overall in email clients to date. All in all check it out if you are using Gmail as your mail client, and really who isn’t? Plus why fight it --it will be coming soon enough anyway.
Posted by The Blogging Desk on Thu, Jun 16, 2011
CBS Tech Talk:
Google's stripped-down laptop, the Samsung Chromebook Series 5, can be purchased from Best Buy and Amazon. Are you planning on buying it? With headlines suggesting that the Chromebook is "tepid" and "works great only if you're online," leaves many on the fence.
The device (which is priced from $430 to $500) - a bargain compared to MacBooks, which start at $999 - is built and optimized for the Web. It promises a faster, simpler way to surf in a more secure experience.
Dissed by New York Times personal technology columnist David Pogue: "Chromebooks assume that you are online anywhere you go. We are not quite there yet. When you're not online, the chromebook is a three-pound 'paperweight,'" he pointed out in yesterday's column entitled "A Laptop, Its Head in the Cloud."
The future sure is off to a bumpy start.
Google has released their first Chromebook into the wild and the reviews aren't so hot. At least, not for their first stab at things. I question the idea of charging upwards of $500 for a laptop that can only use one application - the browser. You can get much more capable "netbooks" at a lower cost. That's just silliness, Google. For a company to make most of its cash via ads, it's odd that they're fine with Samsung and others to charge so high a starting price for such hardware.
Google and Apple have taken very different stances on where they see the future of computing going. Apple thinks that native Cocoa apps are their vision, while Google is perfectly fine with web apps that include their ads inside of them.
Without being locked into Apple's iOS and Mac operating system, the majority of enterprise users could very well fit into Google's vision of computing, but things haven't started off in an ideal manner.
